Manifest
by crazhetalia
Summary: Three extraordinary demigods find themselves to be a little to extraordinary when they discover they're the hosts to three of the nine Muses and take an epic journey to save the goddesses from oblivion, and themselves. Review please!
1. Kori

Kori pov

"Korinna!" my geometry teacher snapped. I looked up at her ugly rat face, raising an eyebrow.

"In case you didn't know, this is _not_ art class. Quit defacing your text book or you'll have to pay me for a new one." I looked at her dull brown eyes, some of my classmates snickered.

"I'm not defacing anything. It helps me remember. Also I didn't draw anatomically incorrect body parts unlike some of my peers." I shot a glare to the other students who shut up instantly. Mrs. Allen squinted her beady eyes. It looked like she was about to assign me (yet another) detention when the bell rung. I ran out of there quicker than anyone else, breathing a sigh of relief. The only good thing about that class was that it meant art was only 65 minutes away. I swear it's the only thing that gets me through the day. I was almost to the class room when I saw them. It's about the most cliché thing ever, I acknowledge this, but it was the cheerleaders. All blonde, all way too smiley, and absolutely dumb. They've been bothering me ever since I said that competitive cheerleading was a demeaning, objectifying "sport" to women, not that any of them knew what that meant.

"Hey K!" said Angela, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. Her (obviously fake) platinum hair clashed with my dark braid. She smelled crazy bad, which was weird. I figured she was wearing a new, very expensive, perfume from Paris or some other European city.

"You know, you would half-way decent if you washed your hair and tried conditioner." She said in a sickly sweet voice, the other girls laughed and my face began to feel hot. No way was I gonna let them know I was even slightly embarrassed.

"And you would smell a whole lot better if you quit using that perfume. Seriously, is it called Eud de la skunk?" I pinched my nose and pushed her hand off my shoulder. Just before I stepped in to class I heard one of them say "Bitch." I was just about to turn around and give all of them a little more than a piece of my mind when Mrs. Carson, my art teacher, put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on in Kori, bell's about to ring." I looked at her calming grey eyes, which told me, _they're not worth it._ I nodded and walked in, greeted with the soft smell of turpentine and clay. It was the most comforting thing ever. Not many kids were in the class, so none of them bothered me. The art room felt like the only safe place for me. I grabbed the canvas I've been working on and started to paint. It was based off a dream I had. It was a half-finished woman, she was making clouds, and soft pinkish wisps swirled from her fingers. I was proud of it, I would probably be done with it by the period ended. Mrs. Carson walked over about half way through class.

"Almost done." I looked over my shoulder and saw her smiling with pride. She had pulled her brown hair into a pony tail that fell over her shoulder and smelled like freshly baked cinnamon rolls.

"I was wondering if you wanted to enter it in the Buffalo young artist's showcase." I almost dropped my brush.

"Yes, yes, oh my God YES!" I yelled, making the other kids look up. But I didn't care.

"Great!" She said with a smile. "I'll grab the entry form at the museum tomorrow. For some reason, they don't believe in computers." She huffed, I smiled at her mock irritation. I wish she was my mom. I have no idea who my biological mom is, or my dad for that matter. I've been bouncing from foster home to foster home since I could remember and was currently living in a group home for "troubled kids". It wasn't too bad though, kind of sucks waiting on the bathroom but that was really it. Some of the kids would pick on me every now and then, but they were all usually too tired to bother, meds can do that to you. I'm probably one of the few kids who didn't have a prescription, as hard as the counselors tried. I sometimes wondered why my parents ditched me, probably teenagers. I decided to not dwell on it and returned to my heavenly canvas.

I actually skipped to study hall, I was so happy. It was the last period of the day, I had finished my painting, and it was going to be hanging in a museum at the end of this month! I don't think I've ever been this happy in a school building. In every school I'd been to, I swear half the teachers were out to get me. I got in my desk as soon as the bell rung. All around me, the other kids were studying for the end of the year finals. They started on Wednesday, I know I should be studying, but I actually felt confident in all my classes, except geometry because seriously! The only people who don't have to worry about it are like geniuses! Plus Mrs. Allen hates me so, any way I'm screwed. The silence was ear-splitting from the stressed students that were sweating over finals, so I grabbed a bathroom pass and excused myself.

I walked over to the sink and splashed water on my face. I looked in the mirror. My braid was messy (nothing new there) and my electric blue eyes were dulled with exhaustion. School drained the life out of me.

"You know there are showers in the locker room, you don't have to use the sink."

I spun around and saw Angela and a tall girl that looked way too old to go here.

"This is the poor girl I told you about. K, this is Mia. She's the cheer team's new assistant coach." She had sandy blonde hair and a really bad spray tan. I hated her already. Her too white teeth and too straight smile creeped me out.

"Aw honey," she had a thick Texan twang, "You missed some dirt." Her fake sympathy pissed me off.

"Oh, wait, those are freckles. Yikes! Hon, I got a lemon juice mix that'll take care of those." Angela smiled, clearly happy at Mia's disdain for me. My face turned hot and the air began to feel heavy. I saw Angela and Mia's hair begin to frizz. Mia's face twisted with malice.

"Angela, go on ahead to the gym. I'm gonna talk to Korinna here about her opinion of the team." Angela looked a bit disappointed, but left the bathroom without a word.

"Now, now Korinna. No need to worry child." She licked her lips as she took a step closer. I backed up against the sink. What the hell was wrong with this lady?

"O how I love demi-god blood," Saliva oozed out of her mouth, which opened to revel twin fangs. "So much sweeter than regular mortals."

"What the he-"I didn't get to finish before she suddenly grabbed me and lifted me from the ground, her finger nails dug into my arms. She was hideous! Her mouth was now filled with broken, yellowed teeth and her skin was pock marked and wrinkled. I screamed in horror and suddenly the lights exploded and showered sparks. Mia looked behind her and hissed, looking for an attacker. While she was distracted I kicked her gut and with a grunt, let me go. I sprinted from the bathroom, hearing an ungodly shriek behind me. I had almost made it to the front door when I was grabbed and thrown backwards. Suddenly Mia was on top of me, holding my wrists with painful strength.

"That was a dirty trick, demi-god. Now hold still, this'll hurt. A lot." She smiled, making some of her spit drip on my face. I kicked and screamed, hoping the lights would blow up again or something when someone tackled Mia, shoving her off me. I sat up and saw Mrs. Carson wrestling with Mia. I couldn't believe it! Mia was on top of her, hissing and shrieking, when Mrs. Carson threw her off.

"Lamia!" She shouted. Lamia smiled.

"Ah, Mary Barnes. It's been a while, daughter of Athena. Didn't expect to see me again did you, sugar?" She charged and Mrs. Carson ducked under her arm and tripped her. Mrs. Carson pulled the chopstick that were in her pony tail out and the suddenly grew into a bronze tipped javelin, and was about to bring the point to Lamia's back when Lamia rolled over and clawed Mrs. Carson's right leg, making her fall. They kept fighting, when suddenly Lamia got a hold of Mrs. Carson's javelin and held her down with her foot. She was about to bring it down when I screamed.

"NO!" A locker door flew off its hinges from behind me and hit Lamia square in the face, sending her flying. I was so mad, I walked towards her.

"Don't. You. EVER. EVER. Touch her AGAIN!" a gust of wind that could have rivaled an F6 tornado pinned Lamia to the wall. I picked up the javelin and threw it at her, as it hit her she screamed and turned to dust which disappeared in the wind. It died down slowly, I was huffing. I looked around and saw papers and locker doors everywhere. I turned to Mrs. Carson, her lip was cut and her eyes were wide with surprise.

"I had my suspicions, but this, oh this…" she said in a hushed tone. I was scared. I just killed a demonic Texan cheerleading coach that wanted to eat me and she just evaporated!

"M-Mrs. Carson. What'd she mean? What was she?" My voice cracked as I looked at my hands.

"What am I?" I whispered. Mrs. Carson limped over to me and put her hands on my shoulders.

"You're a demi-god. I am too. Either your mother or father is a Greek god. From the looks of it, it's your father. You need to get out of here and get to camp. I'll cover for you and see you there in a few days." Her voice was strong and her eyes were calm. My lip quivered and a lump rose in my throat.

"But, I don't know what this is camp or where it is."

"We can take you." I turned around and saw two girls, one of them was wearing a black hoodie with black corkscrew curls tumbling out and the other wore a t-shirt advertising a surf shop, her ash blonde hair had teal stripes and was swept into a ponytail.

"Who are you?"

Author note: Hey guys! This is one of my sisters story! So we'll be sharing my profile and everything. Please leave reviews so I can tell her what you all think about it! Ta for now!


	2. Saph

Saph pov

Vanessa and I stood a couple feet in front of Mary and the girl she had Iris messaged us about.

_ I think she's special, like you two. Monsters have been crawling around the school. Don't worry, they're hardly a challenge but I don't want to take any chances._ V and I got the next grey hound to Buffalo right after we got the message. Now, two buses and 8 hours later, we were standing in front of a scared 15 year old kid with the most tangled hair I'd ever seen.

"Who are you?" Her voice was shaky. Poor girl, I remember the first day a monster came after me. I was lucky I was with a satyr. We barely made it to the hill, I just turned 13. V appeared in camp the next summer, already claimed and miraculously alive. It was crazy, neither of us were supposed to exist. We've been like sisters since we'd met.

"Calm down sister, I'm Sapphira and this is Vanessa. We're friends." Judging from her stiff body language, she wasn't completely convinced. I looked at Mary and raised my eyebrows_, _

_You give me __this__ to work with?_ She gave me a look that told me to be patient. Mary looked at the girl with the distractingly wild hair and said,

"I called them. They're like me, like you." The girl turned her head and scoffed

"**What** am I? A demi-god? Sorry for not being totally accepting of it!" Oh gods, I get it! She wants proof. I gave a sideways glance at V's obsidian eyes and she nodded. I walked over to the water fountain and put my hand on it. The girl looked at me, she had stormy blue eyes and her cheeks and nose were covered in freckles. I looked at the fountain and willed the water to come up. It rose to eye level and formed a ball of water. She gasped, I then willed it to form a horse and it pranced around her head. I let the water drop to the floor, leaving a puddle. I looked at her.

"Believe us now? I'm the daughter of Poseidon, V over there," I said gesturing to her," is Hades' kid." She bit her lip and twisted her tank top. It's a lot to take in in one day, and we still have an 8 hour trip back home that would surely be filled with questions. V was thinking the same exact thing,

"Hey, we need to get going. It's bad enough there's 4 demigods in one place but 2, possibly 3 being kids of the big 3 so we got to leave. Now." She grabbed the girl's wrist, who looked back at Mary. She nodded, and gestured her forward.

"Wait. I need my sketchbook," She said trying to head for a nearby hall, but V held on.

"It's just a sketchbook, you can get another one or have it sent." V dragged her to the front door, anxious to leave and get back to our safe haven. I wanted to get out too, the sulfur smell monsters leave behind gives me a headache. But this girl just wouldn't have it.

"NO! I **need** my sketchbook!" The air crackled and a sudden gale shoved us into the door. V let go of the kid, rubbing her nose which had hit the metal door.

"What the hell?!" V turned around, looking at a now very pissed off demigod. "Look kid! I don't care about your sketchbook. We are in danger out in the open! Gods! I **hate** kids!" Probably not the best thing to say to a girl who makes tornados when she's mad, which means she can't control it.

"My name is _Kori_, not kid! I don't care what you say, I am going to get my sketchbook and you can't stop me!" She stormed down the hall, taking a static-y atmosphere with her. V looked at me,

"We came all the way to Buffalo, for _her?_ She's a brat!" I had to admit I was taken back at Kori's outburst. No one ever talked to V that way, everyone was usually too scared of pissing her off to speak up. But yeah, I had to agree, that girl needed to calm WAY down.

A few minutes later, Kori walked back brandishing a shoulder bag, holding her chin up high. She must be trying to act like she wasn't fazed at all, which she wasn't doing a good job at. V rolled her eyes and huffed out the door. Mary wasn't in the hall anymore, she'd gone to help with the student's evacuation from a "freak tornado". We walked to the bus stop and had to wait a while. V got up from the bench and mumbled that she was going to the vending machine. So Kori and I just sat there. She glared at her feet and didn't say anything. She was seriously getting on my nerves with her angry atmosphere. It was hard to keep in mind what she was feeling. I needed a gesture of goodwill. I dug into my backpack and pulled out a hair brush. I was about to offer it to her when she finally said something.

"What did she mean?" she said still glaring at her sneakers.

"You mean V?" I looked over at her. She looked up, meeting her blue eyes with my green.

"Your parents, or at least one of them, are a god? Like from Hercules or whatever?" I couldn't help it, I laughed my butt off and almost fell off the bench.

"What?" Her face looked like a tomato someone put a sharpie to.

"Nothing, it's just when I found that out who she was, I thought the same exact thing." I reigned my laughter. She gave an awkward smile and looked back at her shoes. The air felt less stressed. I put my hairbrush in her lap.

"Looks like you need this." She picked it up and said a quiet thank you and started to tame her hair. Vanessa walked back with a can of Fanta and a bag of Doritos and gave me a look. We have this sort of secret language communicated through eyebrows. Her look said_ She ok now?_ Mine responded_ Yeah, she's fine._

About an hour later, Kori had a nice, detangled dark waves hanging over her shoulder. She cradled her bag in her like it was the most precious thing on earth, she had her head against the window and I was pretty sure she had passed out 20 minutes ago.

"I wish it wasn't so easy to feel sorry for that brat." V sighed, looking up. Her thick, corkscrew curls fell from the hood of her jacket. I laughed, she never got worked up this much about anyone.

"On the bright side," I said, "We don't have to go through the 'So, you're a demigod' talk for like the 80th time." V put her hands together and mouthed thank you to the floor. I would say sky but, yeah her dad isn't up there. We were quiet for a while. It'd been a long day, and we still had hours to go.

"Why do you think she hasn't been claimed?" I said, the sun setting, making the forest look like it was on fire. V looked at me and shrugged.

"She's 15, almost 16, it's usually 11 or 12."

"Maybe she was forgotten." she said it really quiet, even though Kori was sleeping soundly against the window. Sadly, it was a real possibility. The guys upstairs (or downstairs) could be really forgetful, which sucks. They were supposed to be claiming more of their kids. Granted a lot more kids had begun to flood the camp over the past couple years, but a lot were still forgotten. I was lucky, on my own with a normal family. Usually demigods don't live past 12, especially when their parents are one of the Olympians; we're like a giant signal flare to monsters. Now, V and I were going into our senior years of high school. I can tell you now, my graduation party will have a banner that says "I made it to 18 without being maimed!"

"Yeah, I guess." I didn't feel like talking anymore, I was exhausted. V and I were both college-bound. We'd decided we should go to the same school because I would seriously get lonely without her. Luckily a couple of deans in Manhattan were demigods or legacies so we'd have a good chance of getting in. About 4 hours later we had to switch buses. Kori was hard to get up, jeez, she's like a log! She was back asleep as soon as she sat down in the next bus. It was about 8:30 and I was about to fall over.

"I'll keep an eye out, you go and hit the sack." V knew sleep didn't come easy to me and when it came I had to stop whatever I was doing and just rest. I nodded at her and closed my eyes.

The sky was green and grey, like a hurricane was about to hit the shore. I walked down what only seemed to be a few feet to me but the trees zoomed passed me like I was on a highway. When I stopped I looked around and found I was in a cove, the waves lapped violently on the shore. I turned and saw a group of 9 people. I walked closer and saw they were all women, and they were all beautiful. But they were all frowning, their eyes were empty. An earsplitting crack of thunder shook the ground and lightning flashed. Suddenly, there were only three women, they held each other's hands. One of them turned to me, her eyes were ethereal. They looked like the pictures of space I'd seen in text books, swirling purples, blues and greens. She grabbed my wrist with her thin, white hand. She seemed to age with every second that passed.

"Remember us child. You are all we've got left." Her voice was horse and sounded like an echo. Her grip loosened and suddenly she and the other two women faded. Just poof! The waves suddenly got more violent, the sky threatened to attack. A loud crash of thunder made me wince and I heard someone yell for me. They got closer and closer until they screamed in my ear.

I woke up with start. I turned to V who was no longer in her seat but in the isle, gripping Kori's arm.

"Saph! We gotta scram, now!" People were yelling, getting there baggage from the upper racks. I was about to ask why when suddenly the bus was hit from the right side, making V and Kori fall over. The screaming got louder as people ran, and that's when the bus caught on fire.


	3. V

V pov

I'd had it up to my ears with this brat. As soon as Saph had fallen asleep, she'd woken up. So of course the best plan of action was to ignore her, but noooo! She just had to start asking questions. The only Greek mythology she knows is from that Disney movie, as good as it is, and it's extremely inaccurate. I remember when I was a little girl, I went and saw Fantasia at the movie theater. Leave the normal world for a few decades and everything changes! Not that the movies are bad, and holy cow! Women can have the same jobs as men and wear pants and even curse! The nuns at the orphanage never let me do that, so I of course took every opportunity to wear pants _and_ curse. In fact, I was about to use some choice words when the side of the bus got rammed. We skidded on the highway for a second before the driver was able to pull off to the side of the road. People were screaming, trying to get off. I grabbed Kori and shook Saph's shoulder.

"Saph, we have to scram, now!" I yelled just as soon as the bus was hit again. Then it just had to catch on fire. Now people were scrambling like ants. Saph was now fully awake and grabbed her back pack.

"Run!" she yelled. Yeah, like I didn't know that. With Kori in tow, we jumped out the handicap door and ran. We didn't even make it ten feet before whatever made the bus explode came after us. It somehow managed to get in front and we all fell over it. I looked up and saw a snake with long fangs and dragon-esque wings.

"Python!" I yelled, rolling backwards. Saph copied my move with gymnastic grace while Kori fumbled over her feet. Amateur.

"The hell is that?" she screamed, running away from it.

"A python, seriously I just said it." I sneered, she was definitely not the sharpest. I grabbed my leather and wooden bead necklace and gave it a jerk. Instead of breaking, it melted into a dark mahogany bow and a quiver of celestial bronze tipped arrows secured around my torso. I shot three arrows at its thick, scale neck. It hissed, its breath smelled like rotten eggs and slime dripped from its fangs. Saph had her bronze sword in her right hand, sneaking around to get a better shot. We'd been fighting side by side for years, if I had to be stuck in a battle to the death with a hydra, I hope she'd be there. The Python hissed and shot acidic slime from its mouth, I dodged and rolled to the left. Somewhere in the background I heard Kori squeal. I shot another arrow and it hit directly in its eye. It screamed and while it writhed Saph plunged her sword into its side. I thought for sure that it would vaporize and get sucked back into the Tarturus, but it swung its tail and suddenly I was sent flying backwards. I don't exactly remember how it happened, but Saph was next to me helping me up when it hit the both of us, sending us spiraling into a thick oak tree in the roadside forest. It quickly curled its tail around us and we couldn't move.

"Saph!" My head was throbbing, no way would I be able to shadow travel us out.

"Saph!" I turned a little to see her head slumped, she groaned a little. Even though we were in a sucky situation, I was glad. At least she was ok. Well, alive anyways.

"What can I do?!" Kori yelled from about a hundred feet away.

"Nothing! Even with a weapon you've got absolutely no training!" I yelled. The last thing I wanted was this kid near anything sharp and pointy, even if I was being held hostage by a smelly snake. The python hissed and was just about to spit its mucus colored acid when there was a sudden crack and a mailman was standing in front of Kori.

"Ms. Kori?" He glanced at his blackberry. She nodded,

"Yeah, and you are?" she cocked her eyebrow. If my hands were free, I'd of given myself a face palm.

"Hermes, god of messengers, at your service." He said, bowing. Hermes looked to the twin snakes on the antenna.

"George, Martha? Please keep the python occupied until after we leave." They hissed a yes and grew until they were about my size and started "talking" to the python. Ha! The look on her face was priceless!

"So the gods use UPS?" she gave his uniform a quick once over. Hermes laughed,

"When I'm busy, yes. FedEx is terribly unreliable." He placed his palmpre in front of her and she signed it. In a moment, the box was on the ground and Kori was holding two silver rings.

"Uh… what am I supposed to do with these? Couldn't you give me like a machine gun or something?" I mentally smacked her.

"You'll have to figure that out for yourself Korinna. Good luck." And in a flash, he, George, and Martha was gone.

"You idiot! That _is_ the weapon! Put them on and twist them or something!" The python's grip had started to strengthen again. After fumbling around with the rings for a few minutes, she was holding two polished bronze daggers. Great, give the newbie the close range weapon.

"Now what?" she yelled

"Just distract it. Maybe it'll let us go and come after you!" I noticed her face turn red. She ran towards the front of the python.

"No! What are you doing? It'll see you and kill you, you idiot!" I yelled.

"Hey ugly!" The python snapped its neck to see Kori waving her arms.

"Yeah you slime breath! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries!"

That was the dumbest taunt ever! It wasn't even reptile related! I slumped my head in embarrassment for her. We're doomed.

Apparently the python didn't like what she said and hissed. It loosened its grip at least, but it surged forward, baring its fangs as it charged at Kori. She didn't budge.

"Move you idiot!" I yelled, I tried to squirm out of its grip. Kori raised her arm behind her head and threw the knife. It landed right in between its eyes with a sickening _thunk_, and within milliseconds her other knife was in its snout. It made a noise like helium escaping a balloon before it disintegrated into a sulfurous smelling pile of dust. Saph and I fell to the ground, our weapons now reappeared next to us. I brushed my hair out of my eyes to see Kori pocketing the python's fangs before she walked over.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" I asked, half yelling.

"One of my foster dad's was a green beret. He was told he was unfit to raise an 8 year old girl." Her face had a very satisfied smile. I was a little pissed at her smug attitude.

"Yeah whatever," I mumbled. I turned around and saw Saph lying on her side.

"Hey! You ok?" I turned her over and saw a nasty cut by her temple. She groaned and touched the bleeding cut.

"I have some ambrosia in my bag." Her voice was soft and weak. I grabbed her bag and found one of those metal liquor canteens and opened it up. I raised her head and she took a few sips. The gash had started to heal up before my eyes. Kori was staring in awe. I capped it and stuck the ambrosia back in her drawstring bag.

"She gonna be ok?" Kori asked, kneeling over.

"She'll be fine, she just needs to rest." She nodded and looked up at the cloudy sky. The halo of pale moon light was just visible behind some clouds.

"So, now what? How are we gonna get to that camp?" She asked. I looked back at Saph's bag of goodies and suddenly had an idea.

"We're gonna take a taxi."


	4. Kori II

Kori pov

"We're taking a taxi? I don't have any money! Wait, you're not gonna steal one are you?" I said. V snapped her neck, looking quite offended.

"No! I'm not talking about a mortal taxi," She barked, pushing her curly black hair from her face, "and I can't believe you'd say that!" She grumbled while she dug through Saph's bag. She pulled out an old looking gold coin and flipped it onto the highway. Suddenly grey smoke circled from the pavement and a taxi formed. If it were anatomically possible, my chin would be on the ground. V picked Saph up and kicked the passenger door, I'm surprised her boot didn't dent it.

"Hey! Open up!" The door swung open and she, along with Saph, slid in. I stood there, taking in that a freakin yellow taxi had literally appeared out of thin air.

"You coming?" V yelled from the back seat. I took a couple steps and peered into the taxi. The entire interior looked like it was made of swirling grey fog.

"Is this safe?" I asked looking at the drivers, with all that had happened today seeing the three old ladies that shared an eye didn't faze me.

"Mmm, not really." V replied, yanking me in. The door slammed behind me and suddenly we were swerving down the high way at what I was pretty sure was an illegal speed. We sat there in awkward silence. I rubbed the python's fangs with my thumb in my pocket. It was smooth like ivory.

"Hey, um, sorry about the carjacking thing. I didn't think it'd offend you." I said looking over at V. She was quiet for a moment, like she was thinking about how to answer me as sarcastically as possible.

"It's fine." She said really quickly, turning to look out the window. Saph was softly snoring in between us, not the obnoxious kind but the kind that sounds like heavy breathing. We sat there for a few minutes more before V said anything.

"What was that back there?" she asked

"What was what?"

"That _thing_ you said to the python. It was about elderberries and gerbils." She said shaking her head, making her curls swirl wildly around her face.

"It was a hamster," I corrected, "You know, Monty Python? Search for the Holy Grail? The birth of modern comedy?" She gave me a blank face.

"I need to educate you. You'll love it!" I said loudly, making one of the hags turn around and shush me with her withered crooked finger. V chuckled a little bit.

"No… Blackjack doesn't like peanuts…" Saph moaned in her sleep, making both V and I burst out laughing. All three of the grey sisters turned around and shushed us like wrinkled old librarians.

"We're trying to drive! Shut your gabbers!" the driver screeched. We both restrained our laughs when the taxi came to a screeching halt; I hit my face on the cage screen that separated the driver from the passengers.

"Half-blood hill," they said, each taking a word, "now get out." V huffed something about manners and pulled Saph out after unbuckling her seatbelt. I was about to slide out when one of them grabbed my wrist with their boney hand.

"Good luck child. You have a hard road ahead of you, choose your path wisely." Her ancient voice cracked. Before I could say anything else the taxi had peeled off the shoulder and disappeared in a cloud of smoke in the dark night.

"You coming?" V asked for the second time that day. She was standing by a giant pine tree with a now semi-conscious Saph.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." I trotted up the steep hill only to see a dragon wrapped around the base of the tree. Right above the dragons head was a shiny gold shag rug.

"Wait, is that the Golden Fleece?" I asked in awe. Saph's eyebrows raised in apparent surprise.

"Yeah, it is. How'd you kno-" Saph was interrupted from someone yelling for her and V.

"Hey guys! Welcome back!" A boy about 18 years old jogged over to us and he was pretty hot. He had broad shoulders that lead down to lean, yet thin, arms. In one hand he held a bow and in the other a flashlight. I had to check to make sure I wasn't drooling.

"This the new kid Mary was talking about?" He stuck his flash light in his pocket and held out a thin, golden hand,

"I'm Troy, son of Apollo, I'm sure this must be a pleasure for you." He had a crooked smile and pearly teeth. I guess I wasn't as smooth as I hoped to be. I heard Saph scoff in the background.

"Yes Troy, she's been waiting her whole life to meet a big headed dunder brain." She smiled and smacked him on his chest with the back of her hand. He rolled his honey colored eyes and put his arm around her shoulder. He was a good head taller that her.

"Aw, don't be jealous sugar," he said jokingly, planting a kiss on her cheek, "There's plenty of me to go around." Saph giggled and pushed his head away, making his russet colored hair shake.

_They're totally a couple!_ I thought. Apparently, V could read minds and shook her head while mouthing the word _no_.

"Well my lady," he said offering Saph his arm, "Shall we show this newbie around?"

"We shall." Saph said taking his arm cordially. I wanted to grab my sketch book and draw them, they were like a courting renaissance couple. We walked down the hill, following Troy's yellow light. The first thing I saw was a big house with a wraparound porch and a volleyball pit, then we came to the top of the valley. Grand ivory colored Greek columns bordered an even more beautiful courtyard, orange light flickered from bronze torches. At the center of the square was a marble fountain, it gently lapped to the rhythm of chirping crickets. Then there were dozens of diverse looking cabins in the shape of an omega. A beautiful green forest bordered a crystal lake, the moonlight enhanced it's already fairytale look. It was just too much to take in!

"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." I whispered. V chuckled softly,

"That was my reaction when I first saw this place too." Her voice was soft and wistful.

"Welcome home, Kori."


	5. Saph II

Saph pov

I loved seeing the look of awe on new camper's faces. I leaned my head against Troy's shoulder,

"Welcome home, Kori."

"Well I'm sure Chiron will wanna talk to her," Troy said. I groaned and rolled my eyes,

"Come on Troy, it's like midnight. It can wait until morning."

"Well technically it _is_ morning." He sassed, the moonlight casted blue shadows into his dimples. I swear this boy will be the death of me. I was about to give him one of my famous come backs when I heard my older brother call my name.

"Saph! Why didn't you come see me first, little sis?" Percy said, striding over to us with his arms open in expectation of a hug. I grinned and accepted the invitation, he smelled like fresh ocean brine. He was a few inches taller than Troy, who was 6 foot, _and a half; _it was the most serious transgression to him if you ever forgot the half.

"Well we just got here, wait, and why are you awake?" I asked looking up at his face. We had the same green eyes and a few people said nose, but I didn't see that.

"My Jedi mind powers told me you got back in camp." I arched an eyebrow

"It was totally Annabeth, wasn't it?" He and Annabeth had been together for about 7 years now. She had pretty honey colored curls and intimidating grey eyes. When I first came into camp after being claimed, people kept joking that I was what their daughter would look like. It was funny for about a week, after that it was just annoying. I got along with Annabeth ok I guess, but she just kind of rubbed me the wrong way, no offence.

"Yeeaaahhhhh, but hey! It's the thought that counts, right?" He said, tightening his hug. I huffed and rolled my eyes, but was happy to see him. I pulled away and introduced Kori to him.

"Hey nice to meet you. It's always great to have new campers come in. This is a safe haven for people like us so unwind a bit." He said putting his hand on her petite shoulder.

"This place is so awesome!" her voice was hyper and excited, but her eyes said she was exhausted.

"Yeah," Troy said, "We're about to take her to see Chiron." He grabbed Kori's wrist and started walking towards the Big House.

"What? No way! It's like midnight! It can wait until morning!" Percy cried. V cracked up, her deep tea colored eyes twinkled.

"That is _exactly_ what Saph said. Like, word for word." Percy puffed up,

"Well majority vote wins! We'll deal with it first thing after breakfast." He said. V nodded adamantly in agreement. Troy heaved and rolled his almond shaped eyes.

"Fiiinnneeee, but if he gets mad, it's not my fault." Kori looked a little lost and even more tired by the second.

"Hey Troy, will you take Kori to the Hermes cabin? Pleeeaaaaasssseeeeee?" I gave him my best baby seal face. He crumbled like a chocolate turn-over in my hands.

"Oh, you are _**so**_ lucky I love you." He said rolling his head. Kori looked a little hurt, she probably felt like someone's unwanted chore.

"Just kidding Kori, I'll be happy to take you. Night all!" He linked arms with her and briskly walked away, making Kori trip a couple of times.

"Well I'm pretty tired too Saph, I'm gonna head off. See you in the morning, night Percy." She said giving him a nod as she turned. In a few moments she was walking across the courtyard to her cabin.

"Well, I see it went pretty well," Percy said, "Anything exciting happen?" he put his arm around my shoulder and we started walking to our cabin. Well, I could have gone into the python attack on our Greyhound or my mad diplomatic skills with terrified demigods or the crazy dreams I had on the way here. First with the women on the beach, but the second one scared me. I was standing in the middle of a clearing in the forest that bordered the camp lake. Fog clung to the trees, making everything grey and wispy. I thought I was alone, but then a voice whispered in my ear, "_The daughter of air cometh, _I'd turn my head, but no one was there, just blurry forest. _Child of the brine, child of the dead, prepare thy houses. Change this way comes._ The voice echoed inside my head before fading into black. I stood there for a few moments, when suddenly a gunshot of thunder crashes in the clearing and a flash of white light sears my vision. After that I woke up dazed with V holding me up.

"Mmmm, Nah." I lied, shaking my head. Percy shrugged

"Well that's boring. Glad you're ok though." I leaned my head against his arm, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah, me too."

The abalone walls shimmered in the morning light making little rainbows reflect onto every surface. I could hear the salt water fountain gurgling softly in the far corner of the room. It was what I woke up to every morning. _No dreams, thank gods_, I slowly sat up. Percy had just quietly closed the door as I opened my eyes, so that meant the shower was free. I took my sweet time washing my hair before heading up to the pavilion; there was always plenty of food so I wasn't really worried about starving. I slipped on a purple tank top and slipped on my Toms as I walked out the door. I could hear the conversation from 30 feet away. The tables were over flowing with kids, nymphs and satyrs. Used to be kids were confined to sit only with their cabin but now we just sat where ever there was room. Hephaestus' children sat with Apollo's kids while the Ares cabin chit chatted with the children of Nyx. It was great, I can't imagine it any different. V waved her arm from the other side of the way, she had her hair in a messy bun and was wearing the camp's signature t-shirt. Her eyebrows told me to hurry my butt up. I contorted my brow to tell her to calm her taters until I got some waffles. After I poured my syrup I walked over to the grey picnic table and sat down.

"How'd you sleep?" V asked in between bites of bacon. I shrugged and mumbled _Ok_ as I took a bite of waffle.

"Mm," V said downing a swig of coffee, "You know where Kori is? We need to go see Chiron after we eat." I tilted my head up as I scanned the crowd of multicolored heads.

"No, I don't see her anywhere. Maybe she's sleeping in." I shrugged picking up my orange juice.

"We'll check out the Hermes cabin after we're done." V nodded in agreement and went back to her food. On my way to the dirty dishes pile I saw Percy and Annabeth behind one of the columns. Annabeth twisted her hands into Percy's. Bleh, they were being all lovey-dovey. I couldn't tell exactly what they were saying, but their eyes said that I probably didn't want to know.

V was humming some pretty tune when I got outside the pavilion. She was always humming or whistling some made up tune. They were always beautiful though, I waited a minute and listened before approaching her.

"Hey, I've been needing to ask, when's Nico coming back?" V shrugged her shoulders and sighed heavily as we walked down the hill.

"Who knows? He just comes and goes at a whim. He may be coming back with Jason and the others next week but I'm not sure." She looked really lonely, V was more close to Nico than she was with her sister Hazel. Yeah, she and Hazel were tight, but there was a silent bond between Nico and her. I put my arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, he'll come by. He always does." V half smiled and sighed again.

"Yeah, yeah you're right."

A few moments later we were in front of the Hermes cabin. Every cabin had been given a face lift, but this cabin always looked worn out. The rust colored paint was already fading and the caduceus above the door was tarnished and hung crooked. A couple of impish looking campers skipped out the door, as they passed us I could hear their whispering.

"Geez that Carrie kid doesn't know how to take a joke, it was an accident!"

"I think her name is Kayla, Jacob."

"No, it was Kaylee!" They laughed and continued on their merry way. V and I looked at each other before rushing the door.

"Hey Kori," V sang softly, hoping the sweet tune would draw her into the open. The cabin was empty, only unkempt beds and sleeping bags were in sight.

"Kori?" I repeated V's tune, it wasn't as sweet of a melody but I got a response. A little sob came from the closet in the far right corner. Stepping over empty soda cans and crumpled Doritos bags, we made our way to the closet.

"Hey, you ok?" V asked as she turned the dull doorknob. Kori was curled up in a little ball, clutching her bag crying as quietly as she could. Her hair was tangled into a mass rats nest with what looked like mini marshmallows.

"What happened?" I stooped down to her level and brushed part of her bangs from her face, it was hard and tacky and smelled slightly sweet. Her head shot up, her face was red and eyes bloodshot making her blue iris' stand out like neon lights.

"You guys said it was safe here!" She sobbed, her voice cracked.

"Damn Hermes kids..." I heard V growl under her breath. I took a deep breath and tried to restrain myself from going drowning the cabin right then and there.

"Hey hey, they didn't mean to make you upset. Sometimes their antics get out of hand. I'll-"

"NO! You said it was safe! You know, they thought it'd be _hilarious_ to "accidentally" dump their left over hot chocolate on my pillow this morning and they went through my bag! That is NOT ok!" at that she clutched it a little closer. _Take a deep breath and count to 10 Sapphira, _Chiron's voice echoed in my memory.

"Look," I took a sharp breath and slowly exhaled," I'll talk to the counselor and we can go see Chiron after you get cleaned up."

Her brow furrowed as she stood up. The air began to feel heavy and humid.

"Kori..." She stormed past V, ignoring that V had even said anything and threw the doors hard into the wall I felt the vibrations in the floor. We both ran out the door after her. She was halfway through the courtyard before we caught up. Dark clouds inched their way in front of the sun, making it dark out.

"Kori stop!" V grabbed her wrist and jerked her around. "Where the hell are you going?" Kori fumed and her face contorted.

"Anywhere but here! You said this was a safe place, you lied! This isn't a sanctuary, this is a haven for pickpocketing bullies!" Kori yanked her hand from V's grip. The wind picked up, cooling the summer weather making me shiver. Most of the kids were starting to make a quick trip back to their cabins before the day's activities began, I could see Chiron at the back of the crowd, and his white flank was like a flare signal. _Great, _I thought, _a crowd._

"Kori just calm down, we'll ta-" I was interrupted by Jacob, the Hermes boy from earlier.

"Hey Carrie! Wow, you still haven't washed your hair? Sorry 'bout that again, but hey! Brought you a pop tart."

His lack of tact and common sense was almost impressive. Without warning, Kori screamed and threw her hands up in the air!

"My. Name. Is. NOT. CARRIE!" A tempest suddenly appeared and threw Jacob 40 feet into a column, he crumpled into an orange heap. V ran over to him almost as quickly as he was thrown. He moved his arm a little and moaned as she put a hand on his shoulder. She gave me a thumbs up, the only damage to Jacob would be to his confidence.

"Kori!" I yelled over the gale, which was getting more violent by the moment. The crowd started to split, trying to get away from the psycho chic in the square. But she was getting more angry and hurt.

"Leave me alone! You lied!" she covered her ears; her face was red and tear streaked.

"No, Kori! Listen! I get it! Just calm do-"She screamed again, the sky was almost black and monsoon rain began to pour down and flood the square.

_Daughter of air cometh_

Lighting stuck in a giant circle around her, blinding everyone. It took a couple of blinks but I was able to see normally enough to see everyone's reaction: silence. Scorch marks marred the pristine marble around Kori, making a perfect circle, the rain was still pouring but no one dared to move. Chiron's voice cut through the ear-splitting silence.

"Hail, Korinna Mikos, daughter of Zeus, the sky god."

Slowly, every camper kneeled, not out of respect but fear. So far, she showed everyone she had no control and monstrous powers. Kori whipped her head around, mouth agape. Her head must be spinning just as much as mine was. I got up and tried to walk over to her, but she took off sprinting towards the forest. I didn't stop her; I wanted to run too.

_Prepare thy houses, change this way comes_


	6. V II

"Hail Korinna Mikos, daughter of Zeus, god of the sky."

I saw Saph's face go white before Kori sprinted out of the square, a few people parted as she ran through, not wanting to touch her. I looked down at Jacob, his blonde hair plastered down around his forehead.

"I- I, she, it was an accident." He stuttered before his voice faded into a whisper. I wanted to punch him for what he did, but I couldn't. I honestly believed him when he said it was an accident. The rain slowly declined into a soft drizzle before stopping completely. The sun came up, making it daylight again. I saw Percy and Annabeth in the front of the crowd, soaking wet and wearing nervous looks. Chiron turned in the back of the crowd and quietly trotted away. There was a lot of work to be done now that a child of one of the big three had been claimed. I turned to call Saph over, but she was striding quickly away, her hands covering her mouth. Probably taking it in that there was another one of us. Looking down I saw Jacob's freckled face wincing in pain. I helped him up and started walking him to the infirmary. I had to support him the entire time.

"You believe me don't you? I really didn't mean to." His dark blue eyes were pleading.

"I do believe you, but it doesn't make you any less stupid." I huffed, not wanting to look at him.

"But-"

"But nothing! You _knew_ she was new, you should have known she'd be scared! Gods! Don't you remember what it was like?" I pushed a heavy wet curl from my face as Jacob sunk into his wet t-shirt. I took a deep breath and calmed down a little bit. Looking back at Jacob I saw his lips were pouting out. He wore a similar look when he came here. His hair was shorter then and had a child's chubby face. He clearly felt terrible.

"Look," we stopped for a second, "You're still a complete idiot, but I know you're sorry." His triangular eyebrows raised in hope.

"But you owe _Kori_ one hell of an apology." He nodded and we started walking again. A couple of feet later, Troy walked out of the infirmary tent and took Jacob from my shoulders. His honey colored eyes were filled with uncertainty, he'd seen Kori being claimed and was trying to wrap his brain around it.

"Yeah I know." I said. His brown hair was starting to dry, his strands were downy and floated as he shook his head. I looked over at Jacob and saw that he had very _surprisingly_ fallen asleep. I raised an eyebrow and pointed at his face.

"Well I'd be tired too if I was thrown into a column by a pissed kid of Zeus." He said quickly, turning on a dime.

"I'll come see you and let you know how he's doing." He trotted into the tent, throwing back the white flap.

_Well that's not suspicious,_ I half thought. I turned and began to walk up the hill to the Big House, I'd seen Chiron retreat inside moments earlier. I figured Saph might be in there, but if not I needed Chiron's permission to go into the forest with a search party for Kori. I hopped up the wooden stairs and walked in through the back door.

"You need to come back, now." Chiron's voice said from the living room. I hid behind the kitchen wall and peered in. He was Iris messaging Jason, who was in California at the time. His face was golden and his hair lighter from the sun's exposure. His eyebrows furrowed, he clearly hadn't heard the news yet. Chiron's grey and white tail swished, hitting the side of the worn flower printed couch.

"Why? I'm coming back next Friday. What happened?" In the background I saw Piper and my sister Hazel walk in and out of frame, not noticing the intense conversation. I hoped Nico would walk by too, I missed him.

"Because, your father just claimed his daughter." It was almost too serious of a scene, like Chiron was some hero in an action movie, responding to an ultimatum. Jason's mouth opened into a little slit and his eyes grew wide before crashing back into seriousness.

"I'll be there in a few hours." He slashed his hand through the misty window and the conversation was over.

"You can come out from the kitchen Vanessa."

Crap! How'd he know I was there? I slowly peeked my head from the kitchen and smiled nervously.

"It's usually frowned upon to drop in on other people's calls." He arched his salt and peppered eyebrow.

"I thought Saph would be here." I said, looking around the cluttered room. The cheetah head on the wall growled at me, I picked up a suspicious looking piece of bologna and threw it at him,

"But I guess not. We need to go out to the woods and find Kori. She could get hurt out there, she's only had one experience with a monster and she got away unhurt out of sheer luck!" Chiron nodded his head and picked up his oak bow from the book-covered coffee table.

"Go get Troy; he's the best Apollo healer. I'll find Sapphira." He trotted to the front door as I turned and back through the kitchen, but I didn't use the door. An inky black curtain shot up in the door frame and I ran through it. Shadow travel was a little scary when you first tried it (and exhausting) but I'd been doing it since I was 8, so it was like second nature to me. I came out in the infirmary tent,

"Troy, we're going to get Kori. Ge-"I skidded to a halt. Troy looked up from Jacob's sleeping body, like he'd been caught stealing. His amber eyes were glowing like embers, and light were coming from his hands, seeping into Jacob's bare back.

"Wha?" I felt the shadow close behind me, sucking in air. Troy's face stopped glowing in a flash, like a candle that had been snuffed out.

"Don't freak out! I can explain, well actually I can't but-"He cut himself off as he skittered away from the cot. My mouth was hanging open.

"You have super healing powers? When did **that** happen?" I thought back to a couple times when we had played capture the flag where that would have _seriously _come in handy. He exhaled deeply and ran his hand through his now dry hair.

"I've always had it I guess, but it didn't start doing stuff like this," he gestured to Jacob's rising and falling back, "until a few months, maybe a year, ago. Used to it just helped _me_. Bruises would disappear in hours and scars would fade in days, but do you remember that one time when that Ares kid fell off the obstacle course?" I nodded, I remembered because that was the first time an Aphrodite kid won the game, like ever.

"Yeah, well by the time we got here he was fine. Shoulder wasn't broke, even the bruises were faded." He threw his arms in the air and ran his hands through his fine hair. He looked at the ground and we stood there for a few minutes.

"Have you told anyone? Saph?" He shook his head, taking a deep breath through his nose. The afternoon light filtered through the canvas, filling the room with warm yellow light and casting dark shadows over Troy's eyes.

"And say what? "Hey guys I have magical hands and glowing eyes that can heal people! Take that Rapunzel!" I don't think so!" That made me frustrated; he didn't even trust his best friend with this!

"Why are you hiding such a great gift? You know how many times we could have used this?" I seethed, grabbing his hand, shaking it.

"What if it stops? What if the one time it doesn't work is when someone is about to die? No! I can't always make it work! I don't want that guilt!" He looked scared and angry. I let go of his wrist, I was still mad but he made a good point.

"Please, please don't tell anyone. Not even Saph." He put his thin, pianist hands on my shoulders.

"Promise me." His yellow eyes pleaded, gods! Saph was rubbing off on him.

"Fine," I huffed, pushing his hands off me, "I won't tell. But you can't keep this a secret forever." His face was washed with relief.

"I'm serious. If you don't tell Chiron or Saph soon, _I_ will. Now come on, we need to find Kori." I hit my shoulder on him as I walked by. I made a black shadow swirl into the entrance of the tent and gestured Troy to follow.

"I hate shadow travel." He groaned, following me reluctantly into the dark.


	7. Kori III

"Stupid trees," I growled, whipping my nose with one hand and hitting a fir tree branch with the other. I'd been walking through these woods for an hour

"Now, NOW you come out with it!?" I yelled at the sky, which just echoed my question back at me. I grumbled and kept walking. I tried to cross a creek but slipped on one of the rocks and fell on my butt, somehow I managed to.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" I slapped the water and started crying, again. I was mad that I kept crying and mad that my "dad" just plopped in my life via lightning and didn't even have the decency to tell me face to face and that those kids had rummaged through my bag, which had my only processions in it. Most of all, I was angry that I still didn't know who my mom was. Couldn't she drop a note or be all "Hey Zeus, here's my cell number, please give it to our daughter when you claim her. Thanks!" No! Jack squat! I buried my face in my arms, I just wanted to wallow here in this creek, letting my underwear get soaked. I'm not sure how long I sat there, but cicadas started buzzing and the sun was dipping into the west when I heard someone yell in the distance. I shot my head up and looked where the voice came from.

"This way, I think I heard something!" I didn't bother to process whose voice it was, I jumped out of the water and ran. They were the last people on earth I wanted to see. My clothes were soaked from the creek water; I wished I had remembered my jacket. My tennis shoes were slick and I fell a lot climbing up a rocky hill.

"Kori! Kori, come out!" I think it was V's voice, but I couldn't really tell. I kicked off my tennis shoes and peeled off my socks and shoved them into my bag before jogging up a steep incline. I stopped at the top of the mossy hill and dug my toes into the soft dirt. I heard a twig snap and fell flat onto my stomach to hide. I was expecting Saph and V to burst into the clearing, but it was a boy. He was about 6 foot and had short, blonde hair and was wearing a purple t-shirt. He was maybe in his early twenties; he brandished a polished bronze sword. He wore a serious expression on his face, which was pretty. Not in the girl face was, but like those bronze Greek statues in museums. I wanted to pull out my Prismacolor pencils. He had the most gorgeous blue eyes.

"Jason!" A beautiful Native American young woman burst through the bushes. She had layered dark chocolate hair with scattered braids and tanned skin. She wore just jeans and a t-shirt and looked like she could have walked straight out of an Aeropostle ad. Was everyone here just naturally gorgeous?

"Any luck finding her?" She held a bronze knife in her right hand. They were looking for me? I didn't even know them!

"No, I thought I heard something but she's not here." Some bushes rustled and a twig snapped and both of them ran towards it. When I was sure they were gone I sat up. What was the big deal? Sure, I ran off. But shouldn't they be glad? One less problem child to deal with. I continued walking for a long time, I was starving. I already ate the kit-kat that was in my bag, which my metabolism had blown through in hardly any time. Stupid fast metabolism. The sky was starting to darken, had I really been out here all day?

"Korinna! Korinna!"

Uhg! Can't they just leave me alone?! They were getting closer, and fast. I looked around for a hiding place. The only place to hide was a nearby tree. I'm pretty sure I beat the average squirrel's time shimmying up a tree trunk. Just as I sat on a wide branch, Percy, yet another pretty girl with curly blonde hair and that Jason kid burst onto the scene.

"Kori!" Percy yelled. I felt a twang of guilt hiding from them, but then I remembered this afternoon and I was suddenly glad that I wasn't on the ground.

"Has anyone heard from Piper and the girls?" The girl with princess curls asked. She had stormy grey eyes. The boy known as Jason shook his head.

"No one's seen Korinna. What does she even look like? What if I walk right past her and didn't even know it!" He raked his fingers through his blonde hair. The girl rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, Jason. You'd walk right past a girl in the middle of _our_ woods at dusk. Totally."

"Annabeth!" Percy scolded. Jason looked a little hurt; it was hard not to laugh at him though. I liked that girl's sass. After a few minutes of bickering, they moved on to another area. I was pretty comfortable where I was so I decided to relax for a bit, my feet were tired and my shorts were still wet and were becoming very, _very_ uncomfortable. I think I must have dozed off for a bit because the next thing I knew it was night time. The violet sky was alive with shining diamonds and it was almost as bright as day with the silvery light from the moon.

_Wow, the stars out here are gorgeous._ I thought wistfully. Last time I had a good view of the stars was when I lived in a little town on the U.S-Canadian border. It was beautiful out there, but my foster parents were awful. They treated me like some ugly, dirty puppy they took in out of pity to brag about what "wonderful" people they were. I didn't hear anymore yelling, so I guess they quit looking for me. Part of me was a little sad that they stopped searching but the rest of me was relieved. I scooted out more on the limb to get a better view of the sky. I took a deep breath of the sweet night air when I heard a whooshing noise. I jumped back into the cover of the leaves, I almost fell out of the tree! I twisted the silver ring on my finger and a celestial silver dagger appeared in my right hand. Leaning forward, I saw something that looked like a wet sheet of ink on the face of a rock. Then a hand reached out from it! I about wet myself! Could things get any weirder around here!? But then a figure stepped out, the inky sheet dropped like a curtain and disappeared. I scootched a little farther out to get a better look. A boy about my age wearing an aviator jacket stood in the moonlight. He had coal black coarse wavy hair and thick eyebrows. He had a little bit of wiry stubble, somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if he wasn't Italian. He had a strong jaw line and cupid bow lips. He looked up at the sky and put his hand against an oak tree. He had long, curled eyelashes that protected his glossy obsidian eyes. I itched to pull out my ink set. I scooted closer out as he started walking below where I was hiding. I didn't notice the branch start to crackle until it was too late. The boy heard the little snapping and looked up.

"Wha-" The branch cracked and I screamed as I fell, but I think I hit my head on the way down because I don't remember hitting the ground.

My head was pounding when I woke up. I moved to sit up when I heard someone say

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I turned my head and immediately regretted it. It felt like someone set my neck on fire. I hissed in between my teeth.

"Told ya'" I opened one of my eyes and saw it was the boy from the woods. I furrowed my eyebrows, he was doing that fake-suave thing guys do to be cool.

"Where am I?" I groaned, sitting up. I was under a toupe and cream colored quilt on a worn leather sofa in a cluttered living room. Grape vines twirled around the walls and I was oddly disturbed that a living room vineyard _didn't_ disturb me.

"You're in the Big house, you shouldn't of ran off. You're lucky I caught you." He leaned forward, crinkling his forehead. His skin looked like it would be olive, but it looked like he and the sun weren't exactly friends. I frowned at him and looked at the coffee table and grabbed a red hardback book at the top of a hefty stack. I opened it and pretended to flip through it. He looked a little confused and opened his mouth to say something when I threw the book at him.

"OW! What was that for?" His voice cracked a little as he grabbed his shoulder.

"Yeah right! You "caught" me." I said with air quotes. His face turned a little pink and lowered his brow.

"Hey! I didn't have to carry you back here! I could have left you!"

"Did you ever think that that's what I _wanted?_" I said swinging my legs over the edge of the blue couch. I tried to stand up, but felt a wave of nausea and fell back down. The boy rolled his glossy eyes. Yup, everyone here was pretty, even if they're annoying. The boy reached down by his boots and held out a plastic water bottle that had something that looked like apple juice. I raised an eyebrow.

"It's nectar. It'll make your head feel better, you got a bad cut." He pointed to his eyebrow, I touched my face where he pointed and winced. I reluctantly took the nectar from him and unscrewed the cap. I took a swig and almost spat all over the quilt. It tasted like junior mints! The kid snickered a little bit, I shot him a glance.

"No no, I'm not laughing at _you_. It's just always great to see the first reaction." I took another drink, but he stood up and grabbed the bottle.

"If you drink too much you'll burn to a crisp." I thought he was kidding at first, but his expression said otherwise. So I slowly took the bottle from my lips and gave it back to him. He screwed the cap back on and sat back down in the wingback chair. It was a little awkward.

"So, where's everyone else?" I was honestly expecting a giant lecture when I woke up, not that I wasn't happy.

"Well honestly they're waiting for me to tell them you're awake, be right back." He said standing up, he walked to the front door and before he walked out he turned and said,

"Oh, and don't think about running out. I think you've caused enough trouble for the day." The screen door creaked closed as he walked out. I almost threw another book at him.

"Stupid" I scoffed under my breath as I got up. I needed to get all my stuff together. I checked my pockets and with a sigh of relief felt the python's teeth were still there. I looked around and saw my bag by where the boy had been sitting moments before. I grabbed it and saw my sketchbook right next to it, opened. OH MY GOSH! Are there no boundaries in this place?I picked it up and saw some of the pages were wavy from my slip in the creek. I grumbled and cursed under my breath while tying my shoes. I shoved my sketchbook back into my bag and crept into the next room, it was a kitchen. In the back there was a scuffed, wooden door and I made a mad dash for it. It was still night, probably 8 or 9 so no one was around. I ran down the porch and jumped down the stairs when I felt a pair of hands catch me around the waist and pulled me back onto the porch. But my legs tangled with their jean covered ones and we fell backwards. I hit the back of my head against their nose and heard them yelp. Moaning, I turned around and saw it was the pretty boy. Again.

"You?" I pushed myself back up off of him. He rubbed his nose and cursed under his breath.

"I told you not to run off." He said sitting up.

"Yeah, I don't take direction well. Especially when they go through my _stuff_." I growled, turning on a dime back to the stairs. He grabbed my wrist though.

"No, you're staying right here until they get here." I couldn't shake my wrist from his grip.

"No! Lemme go!" The air began to feel metallic and heavy. He noticed.

"Oh no, uh uh. You're not gonna shoot any lightning bolts at me, Kori." My face felt hot. How did he know my name?

"How'd you know my name?" I grunted, trying to tug my wrist from his hand.

"First page of your sketchbook." He said a little too calm.

"Oh yeah, you went through my bag you jerk!"

"Hey! I only got it out so it could dry! I was helping you!" He was starting to lose his cool.

"And my name is Nico, just in case you wanted to know." I huffed my bangs out of my face. I've had enough of his attitude. I grunted and kicked him in his shin. He cried out and let go of me to grab his leg. I didn't waste any time and sprinted down the stairs. I thought I'd made it home free when I heard his heavy footsteps behind me. I kicked my speed up and ran harder. I was almost to the front of the camp when he caught be by the strap of my bag. I almost fell on him again! Nico wrapped his free arm around the front of my shoulders (curse tiny body types!) while I flailed my legs wildly.

"Lemme go!" I grunted, there was a roar in my ears and heard the air crackle around us. He started walking backwards to a column and thunder roared and dark clouds rolled in.

"Oh no, not today." I turned my head to see him put his hand on the stark white column and a curtain of black ooze appeared from it. I could hear wind howling and echo- y wails come from it. My eyes grew wide.

"No, No! I am NOT going in there!" a flash of lightning zapped the ground, just inches from us.

"Oh yes you are!" he grunted, pulling me in. It was dark and cold and felt like being stretched in a taffy maker. If the nausea wasn't enough, there was wailing and screaming in the nothingness. It was like shutting off all the lights and projector in a movie theater while a slasher flic was on. The noise stretched and there was a light, like we were coming out of a tunnel. We fell out into the light onto a creaky wooden floor. My head was spinning when I heard someone say,

"Ah, there you two are."


	8. Saph III

Everything was blurry after Kori ran off.

_This isn't happening, this isn't happening_... I tried to convince myself, but it was. I left V and everyone else behind in the courtyard. I needed to clear my head, be alone. I walked pass the pockets of whispering campers. I didn't pay attention to what they were saying, but I knew it was about Kori being claimed.

A few moments later I was on the edge of the water warped pier. I took a deep breath of the sun-soaked air; the light made the lake look like it had millions of little twinkling Christmas lights. Then, I jumped off. Little bubbles tickled my stomach and face as I sank to the sandy bottom. Because of my dad, I could breathe underwater and my clothes didn't get wet. Silver minnows skittered in small schools, the light made them look like dancing bullets. Being in water was the most relaxing thing I could ever do to unwind. I closed my eyes and let the under currents play in my hair. I was just about to let sleep sink in when I snapped my head up, scaring the little fish that were swimming around me.

_No, no sleeping for you_. Reality came crashing back to me. I ran my fingers through my hair. I didn't know who I could talk to about this. If I told Percy, he would freak out and drag me to talk to Chiron and Mr. D. I didn't have that good of a relationship with Annabeth plus I think she'd do the same thing as Percy. Maybe V or Troy, but they wouldn't know what to do either. I took a deep breath and knew I had only one person I could talk to. I swam up to the surface and walked out of the pond, weighed down by uncertainty.

"Can I talk to you, alone? It's important." Rachel smiled, pushing her curly red hair out of her face.

"Yeah, of course you can. Come on in." She let the heavy curtain fall as I walked in to her "art" cave.

"Sorry for the mess," she said, pulling her wild hair into a ponytail, "I had this rad idea for a painting and had to do it." I stepped over open sketchbooks and paint tubes to get to her purple bed.

"So, is this about the claim?" She propped her elbows onto her ripped jeans and looked at me with her alert green eyes. They were different than Percy's and mine, she had a yellow ring around her pupil that exploded like fireworks into her iris. I took a deep breath and began to spill everything. The dream on the bus, the one in the cab.

"The voice said the daughter of air," I bit my fingernails, "and then 24 hours later, _poof!_ " I looked over at Rachel, her face was serious. I sighed and picked at the sharp little angles of the nail that I had just bit to a nub.

"Was there anything that could of lead up to this? Any weird incident?" I shook my head. I mean I was always good at guessing things. Back at home when we played any card games like poker, I always knew when to fold and when to bluff. My step-dad would always joke around saying that I could read minds after he'd lose his stack of chocolate coins. V and Troy would complain whenever we went to movies because I could guess what was going to happen, but I mean come on! It's obvious that the chic that goes into the woods alone is going to die. I looked back at Rachel's face, her copper colored eyebrows furrowed.

"We need to tell Chiron about this. It has to mean something." She said getting up.

"No! Please don't tell anyone!" I put my hands up, pleading.

"I came to _you_ because I could talk to you without having to worry about it! Please! I'll tell him eventually, I just want to figure out what's going on first." She pursed her lips.

"Please." I whispered. Rachel let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed her temples.

"Ok, fine. I won't tell anyone until you're ready." I jumped up and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I said, relieved. Rachel put her hands on my shoulders.

"Now I think you'd better go meet up with V, or else she'll think we're planning world domination without her."

"Sapphira, you, Vanessa and Troy follow the creek south. I'll go north and see if the nymphs have seen her." I nodded and looked to V and Troy. They were standing unusually stiff. I thought it was weird, but shrugged it off. I was probably just too on edge and was seeing things. The midday sun beat down on my neck; the sooner we got to the creek the better. We climbed hills, looked in caves and yelled our voices horse for hours. At around 8, Chiron blew his horn to call us back together. Troy pulled out his flashlight and leaded us the way back. When he had gotten a few feet ahead of us, V tapped my shoulder.

"So where were you earlier?" She arched her eyebrow in a movie star manner. I wondered if she knew how to do that because of _when_ she came from.

"I was talking to Rachel about what happened. Thought maybe she'd have an oracle thing she could do to find her." It wasn't exactly a lie, but I still felt like I'd drank rotten milk for not telling her everything.

"Ah," she nodded her head, her lose curls bounced like black springs, "So you guys _weren't_ planning world domination without me. Good, I would have killed you guys." She swung her bow, knocking a tree branch from our path. I stopped for a second and looked at her.

"Do I really look like someone who would do that or something?" V grinned and linked arms with me.

"What can I say? I make anyone who stands next to me look like trouble." We laughed as we made our way out of the woods. Chiron was standing at the head of a circle. I saw that Jason, Piper and Leo were standing there and wondered when they got back.

"Nothing?" Piper asked as we entered the circle. Troy shook his head.

"She must have left the property." Troy said, sheathing his flashlight into his cargo shorts. Chiron shook his head.

"We would know if she had left. She's in the woods still, but until the sun comes up we won't be able to find her." Then Percy spoke up

"Aren't there any monsters out there? She has no experience what so ever! She could get hurt." I looked over at Jason and saw his face turn white. He hadn't even known he had another sister this morning and now she was missing. Piper put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something too quietly for anyone else to hear.

"No, there hasn't been any training yet this week so the woods are safe." Chiron said, making Jason's shoulders relax a bit.

"We can't do anything until its daylight there isn't much we can do." Chiron's tail flicked, "So everyone should get a good night sleep and we'll search again at dawn." Most of us nodded in agreement and we trudged back to our cabins. I was drained. Yeah I was worried about Kori, but I was completely wiped out. Mentally and physically. Percy and I had just split up from the rest of the group, after he'd given Annabeth a good night kiss (Bleh) when we heard someone yell. I turned around and saw a figure walking towards us.

"Nico!" I heard V cry jubilantly as she ran to him. I started walking closer when I noticed he had something, or rather someone, in his arms.

"I think I found your run-away camper." He said. I rushed over next to V and saw Kori was knocked out and her clothes were damp.

"She was hiding in a tree and fell. She got a nasty cut but she'll be ok." He said, handing her to Chiron. From the way he passed her off, it looked like Kori had landed on him, hurting his shoulder. Not that he would ever admit it. Nico actually had her precious bag on his unhurt shoulder; she would want that back when she came to. V gave Nico a hug and a peck on both cheeks, which he rubbed off with the sleeve of his jacket. I rolled my eyes and grinned, they had this inside joke about European greetings. Jason trotted over to Chiron to take a look at his new found sister.

"She looks like Thalia." He said, taking her from him. I had to admit they looked similar, but I think it was the freckles. We made our way to the Big house where Piper made coffee for everyone.

"Why did she try to leave?" Jason asked me, taking a coffee filled mug that said "#1 centaur" on it. He'd laid Kori down on the couch in the living room while we made our way out to the porch to talk. He was reluctant to leave, but Nico volunteered to baby-sit until she woke up.

"She had a misunderstanding with Jacob and some other Hermes kids." V said, stirring sugar into her cup.

"I talked to them though, it was an accident. She over-reacted." She took a sip.

"Also, wouldn't you want to run after being claimed by your long "lost" father?" Piper chimed in, staring hard at her black coffee. She wasn't so happy when she was first claimed I was told, so she understood. Jason just looked perplexed.

"No, I'd be glad. Now she knows who her, _our_, father is." Just about everyone put their face into their spare hand. Nothing against Jason, he just has issues with empathy and a lack of common sense.

We were enjoying our coffee when we heard a "YEOW!" come from the back porch followed by running. I stood up so fast, I almost spilled my coffee.

"Well, looks like Kori's awake." Leo said, grinning. Jason had started running to the back door when Chiron stopped him.

"Hold on now. Nico is a resourceful boy." Jason looked less than convinced when a black shadow appeared next to Pipers lawn chair. Seconds later, Nico and Kori tumbled onto the porch. Chiron smiled,

"Ah, there you two are." Nico gave a half wave while Kori stumbled to the porch railing, looking like she was going to barf. V covered her mouth to hide a snicker as she gave me a sidewise glance. She'd never let me forget the first time I had shadow traveled with her.

"Good morning, well evening." Chiron said, clopping over to the railing. Kori, looking a little green looked up and gave him a once over.

"You Chiron?" she asked.

"_Are_ you Chiron," he corrected, "You'll have to excuse me, Korinna. The habits of an English teacher don't die easily." She looked a little surprised that he knew her full name. Jason made his way over cautiously. Chiron pulled Jason over.

"This is Jason, he is also a child of Zeus." Jason swallowed as Kori's eyes became round.

"I have a brother?" She asked quizzically.

"And a sister. Her name's Thalia, she's my sister. Well yours too but we have the same mom and well she's not here but-"

"Ok, Jason. One life changing discovery at a time." V said, finishing her coffee. Jason smiled nervously and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. It was really funny seeing him so uncertain of himself. Aside from Percy, he was the most confident person I knew. Kori exhaled through her teeth and raked her fingers through her hair.

"I know it's a lot to take in in a few seconds." I said stepping closer to Kori.

"I was a little freaked too when I found out I had a brother." Percy made a choking noise and dropped his shoulders.

"Well I was!" I spun my head back over to Kori, "But then I got to know him and it feels like I've known him all my life." Kori looked at Jason and then back at me. Somewhere in the back of my head I remembered a joke Troy had told me once

_If you're having a really bad Monday just remember, you're not the guy who has to clean the toilets at Taco bell_

That joke didn't seem exactly appropriate at the moment. She took a deep breath and said

"I need some time to think," she turned around and started walking, "Alone."

"Hold on," Jason interjected, making Kori stop, "The last time you were left alone, you tried to run off." I was about to yell at him, but luckily Piper scolded before I opened my mouth.

"Jason!" she said in disbelief. Kori's face went from surprised to angry in about .5 seconds. I knew _exactly_ what she was thinking, _You're not the boss of me!_

She stepped in front of Jason and slung her bag off and set it on his feet before hopping over the porch railing. Jason opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.

"Trust me," I said picking up her grey shoulder bag, "She won't be going anywhere." I put the strap in his hand, his shoulder twitched in surprise at the weight.

"What does she have in this thing?" He looked at it with a confused expression.

"A lot of art stuff, but don't look through it." Nico answered. I almost forgot he was here.

"She'll kick you in the shins if you do, right?" Leo asked in his special sassy Leo way, making Nico narrow his eyes. I loved the way he could relieve a serious mood.

"Well, everyone should go to bed now. Except for you, Jason. Tomorrow is going to be very busy and you _will_ need you sleep." Chiron announced with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I groaned making his dark eyes crinkle. We said our good nights and, for the second time that night, headed back to our cabins.

"Hey, you ok? You seem kind of quiet." I looked over at Percy, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

_Well I knew that Zeus was going to claim another kid and something else, probably life-threatening is going to happen and if I fall asleep I could have another crazy dream, but hey! I could just be going crazy._

"I'm just tired and really hungry." I replied, shrugging.

"Yeah, I could totally go for a cheeseburger right about now." He rubbed his stomach as if hoping a genie would spring from belly with Pizza hut coupons.

"Well I think I'll just steal some of your Twizzlers." I said, making a mad dash to the front door of our cabin.

"Hey! No way! You can have the Swedish fish and m&m's, but don't you dare eat my twizzlers!" He yelled, laughing as he chased after me. After a fake fight and an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, I sat across from Percy on the wooden floor with half of his bag of blue candy.

"You have to tell me how on earth you cheat at rock-paper-scissors." He said taking a swig of Coca Cola. The floor smelled like sandalwood and salt water. I shrugged and took a bite of laughy taffy.

"Guess I can just tell the future."


	9. V III

Nico and I were the last people to leave the porch. It was a cloudless night and the moon was almost as bright as the sun, bathing everything in a silvery light.

"How's everything been going? I haven't heard from you in weeks!" Nico had grown to be couple inches taller than me since I first got here. We were about the same age, well technically he had just turned 14 but I was born before him. Yeah, confusing, I know. I was in this weird hiatus for about 70 years, give or take a few. He rolled his eyes and pretended to be annoyed; he had a ghost of a grin on his face.

"Oh you know, a little doom and gloom and most of the people were dead. But good I guess." I smiled, I was really glad he was back. He and Hazel were the only familia I had left. He looked older than he really was, must be that Italian in him. A few minutes later we were on our cabins porch. It was painted black and seemed to absorb any light that touched it. Above the doorway was Luna, a white screech owl. She hopped from her perch onto my shoulder and nuzzled her soft, feathery face against my cheek.

"Hey girl," I gently rubbed my cheek on her face. We don't exactly know when she got here, I'm pretty sure she came with the cabin. She cooed before flying from my shoulder to Nico's head, where she started pecking his head. He groaned in irritation.

"Well if you came around more maybe she wouldn't harass you so much." I said shooing her from his nest of black curls. Walking inside the cabin, it shared the same shade of shadow that the exterior had. There were a row of bunk beds that had dark red, almost black, comforters. Except mine. I traded mine out for a lilac one with flower print on it. I also strung up Christmas lights all around the walls. I had tons and tons of pictures plastered to the wall above my bed; my guitar was resting on its stand surrounded by half-finished sheets of music. It was just too black in here. I mean I don't hate the color, but come on! Just because Hades is my dad doesn't mean I'm freakin Goth. Nico looked around; I wondered where he considered home. He was never in one place for very long. I ran into the bathroom and got my sweat pants on and brushed my teeth. When I came back out, Nico was sitting on my bed looking at some of the sheet music that I'd written.

"I still don't know how you can read, much less write, this stuff." I rolled my eyes, I tried to teach him once, but it was a disaster. Not even the Apollo kids could teach him the difference between an A sharp and A flat. I picked up my guitar (I named him George) and sat next to him. He had thrown his jacket on the bed next to mine and his shoes were by the door.

"I never took you for one to follow the mismatched sock trend." I said, playing a G chord. One of his socks was (at least at one point of its sad life) white and the other one was black with a hole where his pinky toe was. He lifted his feet up and wiggled his toes.

"They were the only ones leftover in a Laundromat back in San Diego that would fit me." I shook my head in acceptance, fair enough. I played some of the music on the sheets he was holding, I had them committed to memory. Nico even closed his eyes and swayed a little, though I'm willing to bet it was mostly from exhaustion. He stood up and stretched and said he was going to bed so I put George back up on his stand and turned the lights off.

"Night Nico."

"Good night Vanessa."

I woke up to Luna tapping on the window by my bed. I sat up and looked at her, a little annoyed. She cocked her head to the side and, I swear she somehow smiled, flew off. Who needs an alarm clock when you have an owl? I looked over at Nico, he was sleeping on his stomach with his mouth slightly open. Eh, I'll let him sleep. I crept out of bed and took a quick shower. The sun was barely above the horizon by the time I pulled on my Beatles shirt. I peeked out the door, which creaked way to loudly to be normal; I saw he was still out cold. The only thing that had changed was now his foot was sticking out from underneath the comforter without its sock. I picked up boots and tip toed out the front door that closed like a whisper. Nico was a light sleeper, but luckily I had rather impressive sneaking skills thanks to years of going to midnight movies in Harlem without the nuns being the wiser. I sat down on the porch and pulled my boots on while watching the sunrise. The glowing orange sphere rose steadily into the purple sky. The sun was warm and the breeze was crisp and cool, I took a deep breath of it all. Paradise. I sat there for about a half hour before the other campers, still sleepy eyed, left their cabins to eat breakfast. I decided to follow their lead and heaved myself off the wood steps and walked through the dew covered grass. I decided to swing by Saph's cabin to see if she was awake and if she wasn't, cause a very isolated earthquake under her bed. I peaked in the window and saw a lot of candy wrappers and to sleeping heaps snoring under blankets. I was about to start shaking when I thought of something even better. I made a little portal by the window and stuck just my hand in, which reappeared under Saph's warm back. At first I just poked her, but that wasn't effective enough so I shoved my shoulder in the black curtain and saw her jump out of her bed and fall on her butt. She bolted up and I waved from her bed before sticking my head through the portal.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." I grinned. She clearly didn't appreciate my comedic genius and threw her pillow at my face.

"You bitch!" She laughed, pushing her bed-head out of her eyes; now awake enough to grasp my humor. Percy groaned and rolled over.

"Saph, keep it down, it's too- AHH!" He fell out of bed when he saw me, well my head, growing like a flower out of her mattress. Saph was rolling on the floor laughing while I grinned with triumph.

"Ok, now get dressed girl. I look to weird where I am to stick around." I said, sinking out of the mattress and back outside. I spun around and saw a few of the other kids giving me looks, but quickly moved on when I raised my eyebrow. Minutes later, Saph emerged with a baggy t-shirt and tennis shoes on and we walked to the pavilion.

"Percy said he's going to have nightmares for weeks now." Saph said, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Ah, he'll get over it." I said, waving it off. The pavilion was buzzing like every other morning, nymphs whizzed by tables, dropping off platters of fruit. Troy waved and started walking over.

"Good morning ladies, beautiful as usual as I see." He bowed grandly, Saph giggled and I just rolled my eyes and pushed his head back up.

"It's too early for your shenanigans, lover-boy." I said, finding an empty table. Troy and Saph slid in across the table poking at each other. Will they just start going out already? They've been dancing around it since they were 15. We grabbed our food and talked over pancakes.

"So who's ready for capture the flag?" Troy asked, his mouth full.

"You kidding? I'm stoked!" I said, _after_ swallowing my food. Saph set her glass down.

"Wait, that's today?" She asked, narrowing her green eyes a bit. With all that had happened I wasn't too surprised she'd forgotten.

"Well I bet you're excited," She said, shoving Troy to the left with her shoulder. He shoved back, grinning. I saw my window and decided to go for it.

"Yeah, Mr. Incredible field medic. Which lucky team gets your magic touch?" I raised my eyebrow. His face drained of color, but he quickly recovered.

"Well obviously whichever alliance had the better bribe." He shrugged, grinning a little nervously.

"So, my team then?" Saph asked rhetorically. She moved her head a little and stood up.

"I'll be right back." She said, leaving quickly. I turned around and saw she was talking to Rachel. I didn't really care too much what they were talking about, she'd tell me later. I turned my attention back to Troy, who looked a little angry.

"The hell, Vanessa?" His amber eyes flared like fire.

"Why didn't you tell her?" I hissed, leaning over the table. "I gave you the perfect opportunity!" I glared at him.

"I'll tell her when _I'm_ ready!" he spat, leaning back and stared at his syrup covered pancakes.

"O my gods Troy! You're being a coward!" I threw my hands in the air, "She's your best friend! Do you think she'd keep something this big from _you_?" I asked exasperated. He just stabbed his breakfast with his fork. It was like arguing with a brick wall with this guy! Saph walked back over and plopped back down in her seat.

"What'd I miss?" she asked. I shrugged casually.

"Just a life-changing discovery." At this, Troy promptly stood up and mumbled something about being full and walked off. Saph snapped her neck back to me.

"What's up with him?" She asked, a little hurt he hadn't stuck around for her.

"Who knows."


	10. Kori IV

"Trust me, she's not going anywhere." I faintly heard Saph from the Big House's porch. I was glad _someone_ trusted me, not that I deserved it after what I did today. Did I really throw that kid into a column this afternoon? It seemed like an eternity ago. I ran my fingers through my hair, which was disgusting after the long day. I didn't notice that I'd walked into a column surrounded clearing. The floor was a smooth, polished marble and in the middle of it was a stone fire pit. Picnic tables were almost haphazardly scattered. I'm pretty sure this was the mess hall, sorta. I looked back down at the floor and saw an ugly scar marred the otherwise perfect marble face. It was thick, filled with slightly lighter cement, and ran a good 30 feet through the entire floor. I walked to the middle of the pavilion and sat on the edge of the stone wall. The red embers were dying slowly, but still gave off enough heat to warm my face. I have a brother and a sister. No matter how many times I told myself, it just wouldn't sink in. I really couldn't believe it. I rubbed my face, what else didn't I know? I hugged my knees to my chest and just sat there. Eventually I heard feet tapping on the marble floor. I turned around and saw Jason walking towards me. Awkwardly, he sat next to me, his back to the dying fire.

"So," He paused and looked up. "How was your day?" He said a little uncertain. I turned to him and gave him my best "_Really?"_ face. He pursed his lips and looked a little pink.

"Yeah, stupid question. Sorry. I'm new to this big brother thing." I swung my legs out so my posture matched his. At least he was trying. We sat there for a few minutes listening to the crickets creak.

"I heard you threw Jacob into a column and you burned the tile in the courtyard." I suddenly felt my face become hot. Somewhere in the back of my head I thought, _so that's his name._

"Annabeth is really glad you didn't knock any of the architecture over. She's a bit upset that the marble's scorched, but that's an easy fix." He shrugged.

"How long have you known?" I asked, staring at my hands.

"Known what?" He sounded confused. I was a bit aggravated, what else could I be talking about?

"That the Easter bunny wasn't real." I growled. He looked taken back. I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off." I was so tired of being angry.

"I mean how long have you known that Zeus was your dad?" I rubbed the space between my eyes.

"_Our _dad. Well, I guess ever since I could remember." I snapped my head up and looked at him.

"He's not a _terrible_ father. He takes care of his kids, I mean it's not like he-"

"Great! Dear old dad picks favorites!" I jumped up and looked at him. Everything about him was just, well perfect. He had a clear, scar-less complexion except a small line by his lip. Not a freckle or zit in sight. He looked like one of those models on the side of New York skyscrapers for some product that no one could really afford, but bought anyways. Even his attitude was perfect! He was like the poster child for the Boy Scouts.

"If he's such a great dad, where was he when I was in the system, huh? If he really cared, he would have done something!" I knew it wasn't fair to get upset at him, but I couldn't help it. I bit my lip and sighed. I was tired of this.

"I'm sorry." I turned around and sat on the edge of the marble floor. I looked back up the sky. It seemed sadder and deeper than it had yesterday. I heard footsteps again, but these seemed lighter.

"Let me talk to her." I heard a woman's voice say. I heard the footsteps stop behind me and their knees pop as they sat down next to me. I turned and saw the pretty girl that had been in the woods with Jason. She had deep chocolate hair and long black eyelashes that framed the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. They were like the pictures of the Rose window in Notre Dame. They shifted from purple to green to blue and every color in between.

"I'm Piper." She held out a tan slim hand. Slowly, I reached out and shook her hand. But when I touched her, there was a loud **snap** and her hand flinched.

"I'm sorry!" I shoved my hands into my pockets as my face grew hotter than the embers in the fire pit.

"Hey, it's fine. Sparky over there has shocked me I don't know how many times." She laughed and smiled. I suddenly felt self-conscious about how I looked; she seemed to make looking beautiful look like a breeze.

"I'm Kori." I turned my red face down to my scuffed shoes. Well duh! She already knows your name, stupid! I looked back up at the moon. I wonder if it ever gets sad being so far away from earth.

"I know it's really hard to get a grip on all this." She said softly, her voice was comforting. Like a mom or an older sister. I looked at Piper's face, moonlight drenched her in pale light.

"I was about 15 when I got claimed. My mom's Aphrodite." Well, that makes sense. She didn't seem all stuck up like I imagined Aphrodite's children would be like.

"I was _pissed._" She explained. I crinkled my brow in confusion.

"You were? Why?" I asked.

"It seemed like some sort of sick joke." She twirled a piece of her hair. "I didn't feel beautiful, I _hated_ being looked at. I went out of my way to blend in." I didn't see how she could. I mean even in torn jeans and a t-shirt, she was gorgeous. Piper scoffed a little, like she was remembering something aggravating.

"Y'know? When I was claimed, she put me in a white dress that showed way too much if you know what I mean. I couldn't even mess my hair up! It was like a Pantene commercial barfed on me." Her eyes crinkled and I laughed. It felt really good.

"So it's ok if you're mad. We'll get through it." She gripped my hand, it felt like a safety tether, keeping me grounded and safe.

"And go easy on Jason," She said, leaning closer. "I know he isn't the most thoughtful-"

"Hey!" I heard him complain in the background, making me smile.

"But he means good and always tries his hardest. It's one of the many reasons I love him." She smiled and looked at Jason; he had a doofy smile on his face. I looked at Piper, then back at Jason, then at her again. She nodded, answering my mental question. She stood up and held her hand out to help me back on to my feet.

"Now I think its past getting late and becoming too early." She said, looking at her plastic wrist watch.

"Are there showers somewhere around here? I feel too gross to sleep yet." I said, scratching my head.

"They're in the cabins, I'll loan you some soap unless you're cool with Old Spice." Piper laughed.

"What's wrong with Old Spice?" Jason said, walking over.

"Nothing, if she doesn't mind smelling like an old man." Piper sassed, gently pushing Jason's shoulder.

A quick trip to the Aphrodite cabin (or Barbie house as I will now call it) and a shower later I was ready to sleep for a month. Piper loaned me a pair of her sweats and a big t-shirt (which smelled suspiciously like Old Spice) until I could wash my clothes. Honestly, the Zeus cabin was creepy. It was creepy knowing a giant statue of your dad was staring at you, watching to make sure you didn't do anything "dishonorable". But despite the scary hippie Zeus statue, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. The sound of rain echoed from the ceiling: perfect for sleeping.

Apparently too perfect for sleeping. I woke up after Jason decided that shocking me on the nose would be brilliant. I tumbled off the cot onto the marble floor, taking my pillow and blanket with me.

"Noooooo," I groaned hiding my head under the pillow, "It's a weekend Momma G." Yeah, I wasn't completely awake. Jason then ripped the blanket from me, ruining my perfect warm cocoon.

"Who's momma G?" I turned over and looked up at him, dang. He was already fully dressed. That's gotta unhealthy.

"Head of the group home I was at. Why are you waking me up so early?" I whined.

"It's 7:50. That's late, don't you want breakfast?" I sat up real fast. I didn't exactly eat yesterday so I would kill for some food.

"I'm in." I got up and started for the door when Jason hooked his finger into the collar of the t-shirt (which I was sure was actually his) and made me stop.

"Piper swung by," he held up a pair of shorts and an orange t-shirt with the name of the camp on it.

"The shorts are hers, but the t-shirt's yours." He said, handing them to me. I ran my hand over the black "Camp Half-blood" logo. Piper's shorts were a little big, but so were a lot of the clothes I owned. But I wasn't going to complain, she didn't have to be nice to me but she chose to. I was glad that to be around people who cared about me despite only knowing me for less than 24 hours. A couple minutes later we were walking to the pavilion we had been in 8 hours earlier. I was really nervous walking in; I mean I pelted everyone with a monsoon just because I got mad yesterday. I really hoped there wouldn't be any hard feelings. I stayed next to Jason and was relieved that no one shot me any dirty looks. In fact a few people waved hi, these people are great! I was just getting out of line for pancakes when I saw Saph and V wave from a table across the room. I smiled and started heading over. I was about halfway there when I stopped on top of the pale scar on the floor. I twisted my mouth and raised an eyebrow. _How'd this happen?_ Almost immediately, I heard a ghost of a _click_ and suddenly the noise of conversation and the campers melted away. First thing I noticed, it was cold. Like, dead of winter cold. The entire place was grey, the sky, the dead trees, everything. I looked in front of me and saw two kids. I gasped when I saw their faces. It was a 13 year old Percy and a little Nico.

"Nico, I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to but she-"

"You promised!" Nico's high pitched boy voice cried, his round brown eyes were tinged red. Percy's round face looked hurt, like Nico had just punched him in the gut.

"I shouldn't have trusted you! You lied to me. My nightmares were right!" Percy's face filled with concern.

"Wait, what nightmares?" Nico grunted and threw a little figurine he was holding across the floor.

"I hate you!" His voice echoed with hate, making the room seem colder. I didn't really hear all they said after that. These 4 bleached skeletons in partial armor appeared. Percy attacked them, but they kept knitting themselves back together.

"Run Nico! Get help!" Percy yelled, getting between Nico and the skeletal attackers. He put his little hands over his ears and yelled.

"No! Go away!" The marble in front of him split open and fire erupted from it. Percy luckily rolled to the side, the creepy skeletons weren't so lucky. The fire engulfed them, making them dance like cheap Halloween decorations in the wind. Then they were gone, the scar was the only thing left. Percy was on his stomach, looking at Nico with scared eyes and an open mouth.

"How did you-"

"Go away! I hate you! I wish you were dead!"

Slowly, the vision faded." _I wish you were dead!"_ echoed in my head as the color came back. I looked up and saw Nico, the 17 year old one, standing in the exact spot his 10 year old self stood. I suddenly didn't feel so hungry. Nico's eyes looked at me with scary intensity, as if he knew exactly what I'd seen.

"Kori?" I whipped around and saw Jacob, the kid I had thrown into the courtyard column yesterday, standing behind me twisting the hem of his shirt.

"Hey, um, I came to say sorry about yesterday. It was really honestly an accident, but I should have been more considerate. So, I'm sorry." His dark blue, almost navy, eyes said he was telling the truth.

"No," I said, startling him, "I'm sorry. _I_ crossed the line, I shouldn't have gotten so angry and thrown you into a column." Jacob nodded sincerely.

"Well hey," he said, sounding bright. "It's not every day you get to fly, even if it ends with running into a hunk of rock." I smiled, feeling relieved.

"Well, I'll catch ya later." I said, turning back around. Jacob waved goodbye and left the pavilion with a group of other kid's form the Hermes cabin. I walked over to where V and Saph were sitting, Nico had joined them while I was talking to Jacob and was sitting next to V.

"Hey, you ok? You zoned out there for a minute." Saph asked as I slid next to her.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine." I said, waving my hand.

"I was just deep in thought." I looked over at Nico, who was finishing off some scrambled eggs.

"Hey," he looked up, "I'm sorry I kicked you in the shin and yelled at you."

"It's fine," he shrugged, "Everyone loses their temper once in a while." He went back to his eggs. V and Saph went back to talking about a capture the flag game that apparently was going to happen later today. Nico and I sat quietly, picking at our food. A question itched in my throat, I kept it quiet until I thought I was going to go crazy. Against my better judgment, I decided to ask.

"Hey Nico." He looked back up, a little annoyed.

"Yeah?" he asked

"Who's Bianca?"


	11. Saph IV

"Who's Bianca?" Kori asked, making Nico drop his fork and turning V's face white.

"What?" Nico said, barely above a whisper. I looked at V,_ Who's Bianca?_ I asked silently. Her look remained blanched in surprise. But I knew that meant _Later_. Nico shoved his plate forward, and stormed off. Well that's the second boy to leave this table in a hurry today.

"What'd I do?" Kori asked, looking to V and me for answers. Answers _I_ didn't have. V's face scrunched in confusion.

"How do you know about Bianca?" She said quietly, looking around to make sure no one could hear her. Color returned to her cheeks, they were nearly as red as her lip stain. Now it was Kori's turn to turn red.

"I-I heard him say something about her last night when he thought I was still out. Is she his girlfriend or something?" I looked at V who sat back and exhaled through her teeth.

"Bianca," she said, pulling her hair into a hair tie," Was Nico's sister. Full blood, they had the same mom."

"What do you mean _was_ his sister?" I'd never heard of her until today. I mean a child of any of the big three was a huge deal. I still hear about some of my siblings and they died hundreds of years ago. V looked down, suddenly engrossed with her boots.

"She died. She actually saved Percy when they were on the quest to find Artemis." I felt cold of a sudden. How could Percy not tell me this? Kori's face went from red to white in seconds.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know." She said, tugging on her sepia s-shaped waves. V looked back up and gave a half smile.

"_Es no problema, chicita._ You didn't know." Her voice carried a light Spanish accent. V's comment didn't seem to make Kori feel any better though.

"I'm gonna go. Jason said he'd teach me how to not shock people when I get nervous." She quietly picked up her and Nico's plate and walked off. When she was out of ear shot I looked back at V.

"This happened during the quest for Artemis?" I asked, V nodded.

"Yeah, you mean Percy didn't tell you? It was the reason Nico hated him for years. Nico spent years looking for Bianca in the underworld. But she left." She said, tucking a corkscrew behind her ear.

"No. No, he didn't." I said, feeling miffed. I blew some of my blue colored bangs out of my eyes, only to have them return to their original position.

"Well, I hate to dine and dash, but I need to make sure Nico's ok. I'll see you in the arena." V nodded, picking up her plate and walked off. I sat there, looking at my left over fruit. I remember Percy telling me the story, but he was always vague about who died on that quest. I only knew Zoe's name because she was now a huntress made of stars.

"There she is." Percy pointed out to me one night when I was 14. I'd had a really bad day and he told me stories of his quests to make me feel better. Soon I left the table and went to the arena for sword practice, which Percy just happened to teach. The arena looked more like a track field without any grass or rubber tarmac. Percy stood at the head of a crowd of campers, showing them the proper way to stand in combat. About half the girls were there just to ogle him. It's annoying to have an attractive older brother.

"Hey, Saph!" Percy smiled, and waved. For some reason, that made me furious. Him and his doofy smile and care free attitude. Why didn't he tell me what happened to Bianca? That's a freakin huge deal!

"Come over here and help me show these guys the right way to fight." I tapped my bracelet and it rippled into a bronze sword. The word tsunami, or great wave, was carved into the ricasso in ancient Greek.

"Sure thing, bro." I said through my teeth, giving a fake smile.

"Ok, see how Saph has her front foot pointed towards me and her knees bent?" He pointed to my legs with his sword, Riptide.

"That's so she can make a quick attack and retreat."

"Yeah, like this." I lunged at him; he parried my sword with amazing speed. He gave a wicked grin.

"Well, you guys are in for a treat today." He said, making a cross. We went back and forth for who knows how long. He'd make a cut and I'd dodge. I go in for an attack and he would dance around me. Finally I feinted to the right and hit his wrist with the butt of my sword. He tried to dive for his blade, but I made a sweeping kick, making him fall on his back. In a flash I straddled his waist with the fuller, the flat part of the blade, against his neck. We were both panting hard. The campers behind us were dead silent. Very few people had beat Percy at a spar and they had just witnessed an instant. Percy half coughed/laughed.

"Nice work sis. Now that," He said, grunting to sit up "Is how you fight. Now each of you get a practice sword and a partner. Watch your form!" I rolled off of him and made my sword back into a bracelet.

"Well, that was pretty awesome." Percy said, rubbing his neck. I pouted my lip and kicked the dirt. I was still pissed at him, even after the ghetto stomping I'd just given him.

"Hey what's wrong?" His eyebrows furrowed. I was too mad to tell him anything so I just huffed up and said, "Nothing." and walked off. But of course he just had to follow me.

"No really. What's wrong?" We were in one of the passage ways that lead out of the arena.

"Nothing. Now leave me alone!" The brick walls echoed my anger. When we were at the mouth of the opening Percy grabbed my wrist and looked me in the eye.

"What the heck? What did I do? What's the matter, really?" I snapped my head at him, his eyes looked like an angry sea and I'm sure I looked exactly the same.

"Bianca is the matter. How could you not tell me? She saved you and you don't even bother to tell me! You told me about how Annabeth saved you countless times but not someone who actually gave up their life for you!" I was pissed. I yanked my wrist from him and tried to storm off but he put his hand on my shoulder.

"How'd you find out about her?" I thought back to breakfast when Kori had zoned out then suddenly asked about the forgotten Di Angelo hero.

"It doesn't matter." He took a deep breath and started to explain his reasoning behind his idiocy.

"I don't like to remember it. I tried to convince her not to do it, but it was the only way we could escape. She was the bravest person I knew." Now he grieved for her as a hero? When he was called upon it? We stood there for a few moments, I kept my glare up. Suddenly he gave a crooked smile.

"You know, Annabeth gives me that same look when I do something dumb." Here we go again,

"You two are so alike it's cra-"I had had just enough and I snapped.

"I am _nothing _like her." I seethed, pushing his hand off my shoulder. His face contorted to match my anger.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I rolled my eyes and walked off, only to have him follow.

"Why don't you like her?" Anger bubbled and I turned on a dime to face him.

"Because, she's a stuck up know it all who thinks she can do anything better than anyone and-"

"Just. Like. You." He paused after each word, each stabbed into my heart.

"I-I just don't like her!" Only later would I feel terrible for saying that. Percy looked like an oncoming hurricane of anger.

"Well you better straighten up real fast, or-"

"Or what? You'll ground me?" I saw some passing by campers stop and watch the oncoming storm. Percy took a deep breath and I saw him mouth the numbers 1-10 to himself.

"Or else the wedding is gonna be real awkward." It was like gravity decided to pick on me because I felt really heavy.

"Wedding?" I saw the observing campers skitter off, surly to tell everyone.

"When did that happen?" I thought the other morning of them behind the column. Another voice answered my question.

"Yesterday morning. We went down to the dock and he popped the question. With all that had happened, we couldn't find a good time to tell you." Annabeth was striding over; she had obviously heard every word of our conversation by the way she looked. I felt seriously self-conscience, like I was at school in my underwear, only worse. She stood next to Percy, interlocking fingers with her ring-clad hand.

"Look, Sapphira, I know it's hard to-" I didn't let Percy finish his sentence, I sprinted away from them. I could feel my face getting hot and my eyes wet. I didn't even know where I was running to, I just ran. I rubbed my face, closing my eyes for only a moment, and ran into something hard. I flew and landed on my butt.

"Oh gods, sorry Saph." It was Troy. Great, he gets to see my ugly crying face.

"Hey," I heard his right knee, his bad knee, pop as he stooped down to get face to face with me. His voice was soft.

"What's wrong?" He gently pushed my bangs out of my face. I looked up, his amber eyes were full of concern. Darn his gorgeous eyes.

"Nothing," I wiped my nose and stood up. Troy lowered his eyebrows in defiance and grabbed my wrist. I didn't bother to shake his grip.

"Where are we going?" I sniffed. He didn't say anything; he just kept walking until we were at the end of the pier at the lake. I wiped my eyes and looked at him quizzically. Troy didn't know how to swim, he despised water. He let go of my wrist and turned his back to the water.

"For a swim." He grinned and fell backwards into what he usually called a death trap without any hesitation. My instincts kicked in and I dove after him and formed an air bubble around us as we sunk to the bottom.

"What the hell, Troy?! You can't swim!" His idiotic tendencies were becoming dangerous and so was my habit of stating the obvious. He leaned back onto the sand floor of our air dome, his eyes glinted mischievously.

"I knew you wouldn't let me drown." My face felt hot, him and his wonderful words that could make you melt like wax.

"You're so dumb." I complained, lying on my back on the soft sand. Troy followed my lead and lied opposite of me so our heads were touching.

"So now that we're alone," he said way too sexy to be taken seriously, making me smile, "You gonna tell me what's wrong?" My happiness was deflated. Reality found way into my hidden sanctuary, so I might as well deal with it.

"Percy and Annabeth are engaged." I said, sinking into the sand.

"That's great!" Troy exclaimed.

"No, it's not great." I huffed, feeling mad again.

"Now wait a sec," Troy tuned and propped himself up.

"What?" I asked, my throat starting to sting again.

"I get you and Annabeth haven't always gotten along, but I know you don't hate her. So what's really the problem?" Behold: Troy Avalon, the world's hottest psychiatrist. I peered through my eyelashes at the swimming minnows.

"I don't want them to forget about me." I whispered. Troy sat up, clearly intrigued.

"What if they get married and leave me? They'll have no room to worry about how I'm doing or feeling. They'll eventually have kids and I'll just be that aunt who gets the awkwardly hug on Christmas." I felt my throat tighten.

"I don't wanna lose my brother." I squinted my eyes and felt hot salt water drip down my face.

"Sapphira Amelia Baker," Troy leaned over my face, his breath smelled like cinnamon gum and was warm on my skin.

"You are the most unforgettable person to ever walk the earth. If you think Percy would ever, _ever,_ leave you behind then you clearly must be a cleverly disguised alien." He brushed my bangs from my face and kissed my forehead, making a warm, comforting feeling travel all the way down to my toes.

"Thanks Troy." I said, nuzzling my face into his arm. I felt safe here, with Troy. Like there was nothing that could ever tear us apart. I felt a poking at my heart and decided to take a leap of faith.

"Hey Troy?" I asked

"Yes, my beautiful girl?"

"Can you keep a secret?"


End file.
